Operators for garage and industrial doors

A door operator does not lift the door on its own. On a correctly installed sectional or rolling door, springs or a counterweight carry most of the door's weight, and the operator only has to overcome the remaining imbalance, friction and inertia. That changes how an operator is chosen: the door type and its balance come first, the motor second.

Door types and operator types

• Residential sectional doors are usually driven by a ceiling-mounted trolley operator that pushes and pulls the top panel along a rail. See sectional overhead door.
• Industrial sectional and high-speed doors are usually driven by a shaft-mounted operator: a geared motor fitted on or beside the door's spring shaft, coupled directly or by chain.
• Rolling doors and grilles use either a shaft-mounted operator or, for smaller doors, a large tubular motor inside the barrel. Rolling shutters for windows are covered on the roller shutters page.

What decides the choice

• Balance. Check the counterbalance system before sizing anything. A well-balanced door stays roughly where it is left part-way open. An unbalanced door overloads any operator.
• Output torque and speed. Shaft operators are specified by torque at the output shaft and its speed. The door maker or installer calculates the torque from door weight, drum or barrel size and spring setting.
• Shaft and mounting. Shaft diameter and keyway, hollow-shaft or chain coupling, and the space beside the door all limit which operators fit.
• Supply. Single-phase mains suits most residential and light commercial doors; three-phase supply is common for large industrial doors; low-voltage DC operators can often take a backup battery.
• Duty cycle. A loading bay door may cycle many times an hour. Check the rated cycles per hour or per day, not just the torque.
• Limits and safety inputs. End positions are set by mechanical cams or an electronic encoder. The control unit must accept the safety devices the door needs, such as photo-eyes and safety edges.

Using the selector

The selector on this page filters by supply voltage and, if you enter one, a minimum output torque. It does not calculate the torque from the door weight, because for a spring-balanced door that number depends on the balance, not the weight. Take the required torque from the door maker's sizing sheet.

What the catalog shows

On 2026-10-05 this page listed 58 industrial door operators, all from one manufacturer whose company profile is not yet published in this catalog.

• Every operator has a published output torque, from 40 Nm to 180 Nm. The median is 70 Nm; 8 of the 58 are rated 60 Nm or less and 2 exceed 120 Nm.
• All are mains AC operators.
• Mechanical and electronic limit setting are both listed, mechanical more often.

Safety

Powered doors and gates can trap or crush people, and the operator is only part of the protection. Entrapment protection covers the monitoring devices and force limits that stop or reverse the door. In North America, ANSI/UL 325 covers door, gate and window operators, and the DASMA standards cover the doors themselves, including ANSI/DASMA 102 for residential and commercial sectional doors and ANSI/DASMA 103 for counterbalance systems on residential sectional garage doors. Internationally, IEC 60335-2-103 covers drives for gates, doors and windows; drives for vertically moving residential garage doors are covered by a separate part, IEC 60335-2-95.

Before you order

• Get the door maker's torque and speed requirement in writing.
• Confirm the shaft size, coupling and mounting side.
• Check the emergency release or manual operation method for a power cut.
• List the safety devices required on site and confirm the control unit accepts them.

Data as of 2026-10-05.